1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fail-safe leak detection and flood prevention apparatus.
More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for leak detection and flood prevention that can easily be installed in a residence, a commercial business, or an industrial workplace, to totally eliminate the uncontrolled flooding caused by ruptured pipes, cracked heating system boilers, water heaters and failed inlet hoses connected to devices such as washing machines. The invention further addresses the need for radio-controlled remote sensing of leaks and water shut-offs where the xe2x80x9cleak detector to control unitxe2x80x9d wiring is impractical or otherwise impossible to accommodate.
The present invention allows for the ready prevention of many, if not most, types of common household floods, thereby providing significant economic savings to homeowners and the insurance industry.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art encompasses many leak detection and water flow control devices, however, all such prior art systems are either mechanically complex or are not capable of detecting very small leaks, as can the present invention, and are uneconomical to operate and thereby not readily acceptable to the general public.
Illustrative of the prior art is Quintana, U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,569, which discloses a toilet overflow prevention device wherein a toilet is electrically wired for the detection of possible flooding conditions. Aesthetically, this prior art apparatus has the drawback of having a commode with visible electrical wires connected to it.
Jurado, U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,759, teaches a flood control device having a sensor and means for water removal. The apparatus of this patent uses a sensor to detect standing water, but requires expensive plumbing and water removal pumps to accomplish flood protection. The drawback of the system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,759 is that it requires water extraction plumbing that must be installed, in addition to the system""s overall lack of control of incoming flooding water.
Isaacson, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,263, and Simpkins, U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,493, disclose devices that attempt to prevent flood control by means of determining a leak by measuring a flow of water in a supply pipe by using a type of electromechanical flow meter and determining whether too much water has flowed over a specified time, i.e., that a leak or uncontrolled flood is taking place, thereby shutting down the water inlet. The drawback in both U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,782,263 and 5,979,493 is that there is no precise way to predetermine how much water is xe2x80x9ctoo muchxe2x80x9d for any specific application. The practical drawback of these systems is that all of the predetermined water that the systems are set to detect must flow through the pipes in order for the systems to shut down the incoming water, which may already be more than enough water to cause extensive damage. These types of systems have the further drawbacks of not being able to detect small leaks.
By contrast, the present invention offers residential, business and industrial consumers an inexpensive, and fail-safe manner of shutting off incoming water the moment the detector senses an alarm condition. The sensitivity of the inventive system can be adjusted for humidity, or dampness, level and for detecting a standing water leak.
In further contrast to the prior art, the present invention operates on the fail-safe basis of having a water inlet continuously powered xe2x80x9con,xe2x80x9d whereas the prior art operates by powering a water cutoff for stopping the flow of water. This prior art approach, i.e., of powering the water cutoff to stop the incoming flow of water, fails to protect the residence or business intended for protection in the event of a power failure, again, in contrast to the present invention.
Additional benefits of the present invention include the fact that installation can be accomplished by the most inexperienced of home or business owners and their personnel, and requires no special tools for doing so. An important feature of the present invention is that it possesses the ability to provide for radio controlled water detectors where hard wiring the detectors to the main control unit is impractical or impossible.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a simple and economical solution to the prevention of uncontrolled flooding, and to do so at times that no human contact with the system is possible.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a leak detection apparatus by which standing water is detected, along with the ability of the sensitivity of the apparatus to be adjusted so that dampness or high humidity conditions will not cause a false shutoff of the inlet water, and still be able to detect very small leaks in contrast to the prior art.
It is, yet, a further object of the present invention to provide a leak detection apparatus, which includes means for shutting off of a water inlet and recording, or memorizing, the alarm state, even in the event of an electrical power loss.
The fail-safe leak detection and flood prevention apparatus of the present invention includes a modular design that is powered from a standard 120 VAC wall outlet, and requires no special tools or understanding of plumbing to place this system into operation.
The standing water detector is, preferably, a 1-10 microamps darlington amplified circuit (though other circuits may also be utilized), so that when wet, this circuit causes a change in transconductance that is proportional to the level of standing water. The control unit of the invention interprets the transconductance shift caused by the standing water as a standing water condition, and as such, thereby causes the inlet water cutoff to close immediately.
The foregoing transconductance darlington amplifier circuit standing water detectors can be linked to the control system for the invention by a radio frequency transmitter-receiver. This is particularly advantageous where direct wiring of the water detector to the control system is extremely difficult, economically impractical, or, quite literally, impossible.
It is also important that a standing water condition may drain through floor drains and could deceive a lesser system into signalling that an xe2x80x9cerrorxe2x80x9d condition has been repaired. By contrast, the present invention shuts off the incoming water on an alarm state of a standing water condition, and the water inlet will remain off, even if electrical power is lost, or if the standing water condition should drain off. This is in contrast to prior art devices not having such a feature, whereby the inlet water would turn back on if the standing water were to drain off, thereby causing the flooding cycle to repeat over and over again. The present invention shuts off the incoming water on an alarm state of a standing water condition, and will not allow the incoming water line to be reactivated unless the system is manually reset.
The present invention may also include multiple direct-wired and radio-linked standing water detectors for further leak damage control in multiple locations without the need to install additional water cutoffs.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the a fail-safe leak detection and flood prevention apparatus includes a feature for allowing a user to interface with a standard telephone line, and with that connection, call a preset number to alarm the receiver of the flooding condition that has been detected. The control system performs its task by means of a non-human contact; in that the system wiring is not interfaced by the user, either visually or by physical contact. However, it must be stated that exceptional care has been taken in this invention to use power means that provide for ultra-safe operating levels, that should such human contact occur, no possible injury could resultxe2x80x94such as a child or pet touching the standing water detectors or by placing them in their mouths.
The fail-safe leak detection and flood prevention apparatus of the present invention would, preferably, comprise the following:
At least one transconductance darlington amplifier circuit standing water detector on the floor of the lowest point of the leak plane to be protected; the transconductance shift of the darlington amplifier circuit is, preferably, 1-10 microamps. The standing water detector can either be direct-wired or radio-linked to the control unit. The control unit is wired to the water inlet cutoff. The internal power source within the control unit will drive the cutoff when a standing water condition exists. A sensitivity control is included, and appropriately set, for humidity, dampness and/or standing water conditions, for selecting the activation point of the inventive apparatus. A telephone line is connected to the control unit, so that it can automatically pick up on the line and call out to the internally preset phone number and alert the receiver to the flooding condition. A remote acoustic alert device is used for xe2x80x9chearingxe2x80x9d when an alarm is being signaled. The remote acoustic alert can be direct-wired or radio-linked.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent when considered in combination with the accompanying drawing figures which illustrate certain preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should, however, be noted that the accompanying drawing figures are intended to illustrate only certain embodiments of the claimed invention and are not intended as a means for defining the limits and scope of the invention.